James Turrell

I make spaces that apprehend light for our perception, and in some ways gather it, or seem to hold itmy work is more about your seeing than it is about my seeing, although it is a product of my seeing. James Turrell For over half a century, the American artist James Turrell has worked directly with light and space to create artworks that engage viewers with the limits and wonder of human perception. Turrell, an avid pilot who has logged over twelve thousand hours flying, considers the sky as his studio, material and canvas. New Yorker critic Calvin Tompkins writes, His work is not about light, or a record of light; it is light the physical presence of light made manifest in sensory form. Informed by his training in perceptual psychology and a childhood fascination with light, Turrell began experimenting with light as a medium in southern California in the mid-1960s. Turrell often cites the Parable of Platos Cave to introduce the notion that we are living in a reality of our own creation, subject to our human sensory limitations as well as contextual and cultural norms. This is evident in Turrells over eighty Skyspaces, chambers with an aperture in the ceiling open to the sky. The simple act of witnessing the sky from within a Turrell Skyspace, notably at dawn and dusk, reveals how we internally create the colors we see and thus, our perceived reality. Turrells medium is pure light. He says, My work has no object, no image and no focus. With no object, no image and no focus, what are you looking at? You are looking at you looking. What is important to me is to create an experience of worldless thought.

Projection Pieces
A Turrell Projection is created by projecting a single, controlled beam of light from the opposing corner of the room. The projected light appears as a three dimensional form.

Corner Shallow Space

A Turrell Corner Shallow Space is created by removing the drywall in a predetermined shape in a convex corner. The shapes in this series are very similar to those in the Projection series. The light in this case is not projected but comes from within the wall. The effect is similar to a Projection in that the light creates the illusion of a three dimensional object.

Wedgeworks

In a Turrell Wedgework, the precise use of projected light creates the illusion of walls or barriers where none exist.

Ganzfeld

Ganzfeld: a German word to describe the phenomenon of the total loss of depth perception as in the experience of a white-out. Turrell artificially creates a similar experience through the controlled use of light, coved corners and an inclined floor.